Dawgs By Nature
These players need to regain their mojo this fall to earn that next payday.
The Cleveland Browns will spend the next seven months evaluating the current situation at quarterback.
Between now and the start of the 2026 NFL Draft, the team needs to know, or at least have a solid understanding, what rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders bring to the field. If they can successfully do that, then general manager Andrew Berry will have a clear picture of how to use the pair of first-round picks he currently has in his pocket.
While most of the focus will be on the quarterbacks, the coaches and front office will keep an eye on several players in the last year of their contracts, with the following five to watch this fall.
Cleveland’s first-round selection in 2021, Greg Newsome II was a solid starter opposite Denzel Ward his first three seasons, as he had an average coverage grade of 72.5 and an average overall grade of 68.9 from Pro Football Focus.
Newsome took a big downtown in 2024, however. After starting 11 or more games in each of his first three seasons, Newsome only started three times last season and finished with a coverage grade of 54 (163rd out of 222 ranked cornerbacks) and an overall grade of 52.2 (177th out of 222 cornerbacks).
The Browns picked up Newsome’s fifth-year option for this season, and he will need a bounce-back year to earn a second contract in Cleveland.
Cleveland signing Ethan Pocic as a free agent in 2022 was a mostly quiet transaction. But when starter Nick Harris went down with a season-ending injury in the preseason, Pocic stepped in and quickly became one of the game’s best at his position.
Pocic’s play has declined during his time with the Browns, however, as his overall grade from Pro Football Focus has gone from 78.9 in 2022 to 63.6 last season. His run-blocking grade has also dropped 19 percent, which is not a good sign for a team that may be looking to emphasize the run this fall.
The Browns have a potential succession plan in place with Luke Wypler on the roster, so Pocic needs to rediscover his form to earn that next contract.
It wasn’t until his second season with the Browns that Wyatt Teller took off, but when he did, he put up a two-year stretch of play that put him among the league’s best at the guard position.
Teller’s play has been declining the past three years with a 32 percent drop in his overall PFF grade from his high point of 92.2 in 2020 down to 62.6 last season as he dealt with injuries that cost him four games. His run-blocking grade, which is the high point of Teller’s game, has seen a similar drop of 34 percent in the same time frame.
And like the situation with Ethan Pocic, the Browns started to...
